Ski boot cleaner

ABSTRACT

A ski boot cleaner is described which comprises at least one elongated scraping member that is mounted to the shaft of a ski pole at a point intermediate the handle and the snow pad of the ski pole. The axis of the elongated scraping member is substantially parallel to the axis of the ski pole shaft. The ski boot cleaner can be an integral part of the ski pole or it can be a detachable apparatus that can be applied to a conventional ski pole.

United States Patent (1 1 Nasby et a1.

[ SK! BOOT CLEANER.

[76] Inventors: Robert D. Nashy, 6912 Edwina,

NE., Albuquerque, N. Mex. 87110; James A. Corll, 1911 Spruce St., Los Alamos, N. Mex. 87544 22 Filed: May 23, 1914 [2]] Appl. No.: 472,604

[52] US. Cl. 2811/1137 E; 15/236 R [51] Int. Cl. A63 C 11/22 [58] Field of Search 280I11.37 E, 11.37 D,

11.37 N, 280/l1.37 A, 11.37 K, 11.13 T; 15/236 R, 257.2, 105, 245; 135/47 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,018,502 1/1962 Lossius 15/2572 3,284,091 11/1966 Spier 280/11.13 T 3,350,111 10/1967 Sahlein et a1 280" 1.37 E 3,649,987 3/1972 Tomingas 15/245 Dec. 30, 1975 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 69,611 1945 Norway 280/1 1.37 E 37,247 1923 Norway 280/11.37 E 78,501 1951 Norway 280/11.37 E

Primary Examiner-Leo Friaglia Assistant Examiner-David M. Mitchell Attorney, Agent, or Finn-Hubbard, Thurman, Turner & Tucker [57] ABSTRACT A ski boot cleaner is described which comprises at least one elongated scraping member that is mounted to the shaft of a ski pole at a point intermediate the handle and the snow pad of the ski pole. The axis of the elongated scraping member is substantially parallel to the axis of the ski pole shaft. The ski boot cleaner can be an integral part of the ski pole or it can be a detachable apparatus that can be applied to a conventional ski pole.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Flgures US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 3,929,345

V SKI BOOT CLEANER This invention rel tes to an improved apparatus for cleaning the soles of ski boots. In one aspect, this invention relates to a ski boot cleaner that is an integral part of ski pole. In another aspect, this invention relates to a ski boot cleaner apparatus that can be attached to a conventional ski pole.

In preparing to ski, a skier will almost alwaysput ski boots on at some point and than be transported or walk to another location where his skis are put on. Often, the skier will be compelled to walk through areas that become muddy from melting snow, thus causing an accumulation of mud and other foreign matter on the soles of a ski boot. Additiona ly, the skier will most often be forced to walk through accumulations of snow and the snow often becomes caked on the soles of the boots. This problem is particularly troublesome during times when temperatures rise, causing the snow to soften and partially melt.

Before the skis can be properly positioned and secured to the ski boots, it is necessary to remove any snow or other foreign matter that'is caked onthe soles of the boots. Conventional ski bindings mu'st mate flatly along the soles of the ski boots to insure proper adjustment and safe operation of the skibindings. Caked snow and other foreign matter on the soles of the ski boots will cause misalignment and improper adjustment of the ski bindings that may result in injury to the skier. Thus, skiers have long been aware of the necessity for removing snow and other foreign matter from the soles of ski boots prior to donning skis.

Many different tools and other appliances have been suggested for removing snow and other foreign matter from the soles of ski boots. Such items have included small scrapers that can be carried in the pocket of ski parkas. However, such pieces of equipment have not been widely used because they are easy to loose, because they add weight to the skier's equipment and because they are dangerous since they are another item in the ski parks that can injure the skier if he falls on the pocket carrying the article. Other types of apparatus have been suggested for removing snow from the ski boots, including scraper-type implements that are physically attached to skis. These types of apparatus are difficult to use because the skis must be held stationary when snow is being scraped from boot soles. Additionally, such types of apparatus cannot be used with the safety strap attached. Still other types of apparatus have been suggested for cleaning ski boot soles that include elaborate fixed or folding instruments that must be applied to ski poles. Such pieces of equipment add undesirable weight to'the ski pole. In those instances where the scraper-type tool is folded or retracted against the shaft of the ski pole, it has been found to be extremely difficult to prevent the apparatus from becoming disengaged at an inopportune time. In fact, such prior art ski boot cleaning tools have represented a potential safety problem to the skier.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved ski boot cleaner apparatus that can be simply and effectively applied to a ski pole without adding undesirable weight or causing an unsafe condition to exist.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved ski boot cleaner that can be an integral part of a ski pole.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a side perspective view of a ski pole showing the improved ski boot cleaner attached to the lower portion thereof;

FIG. 2 is an end perspective view of one embodiment of the ski boot cleaner apparatus of the instant invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a portion of the shaft of a ski pole with the ski boot cleaner of FIG. 2 in place;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the ski boot cleaner of FIG. 3, taken along lines 4-4;

FIG. 5 is an end perspective view of another embodiment of the instant invention with two scraping members;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a portion of the shaft of a ski pole showing the ski boot cleaner of FIG. 5 in place; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional perspective view of the lower portion of the ski pole of FIG. 1 taken along lines 7-7 illustrating a ski boot cleaner that is an integral part of the ski pole shaft.

In FIG. I, a ski pole is shown with handle I attached to shaft 2. At the lower end of shaft 2, snow pad 3 is attached. Snow pad 3 includes ring and conventional webbing material. Shaft 2 continues through the snow pad for a few inches and terminates at tip 4 which is embedded in snow when the ski pole is used. Ski boot cleaner 5 of the instant invention is shown affixed to shaft 2 of the ski pole at a location intermediate snow pad 3 and handle 1. Generally, ski boot cleaner 5 will be mounted a few inches above snow pad 3. Preferably, the lower portion of ski boot cleaner 5 will be about five inches above snow pad 3. The ski boot cleaner shown in ,FIG. 1 does not have teeth along the scraping surface. As hereinafter discussed, the incorporation of teeth is a matter of preference.

One embodiment of the instant invention is illustrated by end perspective view FIG. 2 and side view FIG. 3 where an elongated scraping surface 6 is formed by the outer edge of outwardly extending flange 7 which is affixed to securing means 8. Securing means 8 is shaped to firmly engage shaft 2 of the ski pole. One preferred configuration for securing means 8 is a slotted housing that has substantially cylindrical interior walls that are approximately the same diameter as the diameter of shaft 2 of the ski pole in the region where the ski boot cleaner will be attached. A pair of inwardly facing oppositely disposed lips 9 of the elongated channel of the ski boot cleaning apparatus fit tightly against shaft 2 of the ski pole when the cleaner is attached as shown in FIG. I. By properly sizing the diameter of the internal walls of the housing, the ski boot cleaner can be applied to shaft 2 of the ski pole by placing the open channel with lips 9 in contact with shaft 2 of the ski pole with the axis of lips 9 parallel to the axis of shaft 2 and thereafter applying an inward force to force lips 9 open so that the housing rides over shaft 2 to a point where lips 9 cooperate with shaft 2 to resist a movement of the housing away from the shaft 2. This "friction fit" will thus rigidly secure the housing with the elongated scraping member to shaft 2. The elongated scraping surface 6 is thus held securely to shaft 2 of the ski pole with the long axis of scraping surface 6 being substantially parallel to the axis of shaft 2.The end sectional view of FIG. 4 illustrates the tight friction fit" of the ski boot cleaner being held to the shaft of the ski pole by the action of lips 9 in cooperation with shaft It has been found desirable to form flange 7 in such a manner that the flange is tapered toward the outer edge of the flange. Such a tapering increases the strength and durability of the scraper surface 6. Additionally, it has been found desirable in some cases to create a plurality of teeth along the edge of the scraper surface.

These teeth are particularly advantageous in the removal of heavy accumulations of mud, ice and snow from the soles of ski boots. The teeth are conveniently formed by notches that are axially spaced along the outer edge of the scraper member and extend downwardly for a short distance.

In another embodiment of the instant invention, a ski boot cleaner having two scraper surfaces is depicted in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. The ski boot cleaner of FIGS. 5 and 6 is similar to the ski boot cleaner of FIG. 2 in that the securing means for attaching the cleaner to shaft 2 of the ski pole is formed by a slotted cylindrical housing having an internal diameter that is approximately the same diameter as the diameter of shaft 2. In FIG. 5, lips 9 are also inwardly facing and oppositely disposed. outwardly extending flanges 11 are affixed to lips 9. The ski boot cleaner apparatus of FIG. 5 is applied in a similar manner as that depicted in FIG. 3 in that the axis of the channel formed by lips 9 is placed in contact with the axis of shaft 2 of the ski pole and an inward force is exerted on the housing to cause lips 9 to spread apart and ride over shaft 2. Once lips 9 ride over shaft 2, said lips will cooperate with the shaft to resist any movement of the housing away from shaft 2. v

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the ski boot cleaner of FIG. 5 in place on shaft 2. It has also been found desirable to provide for a plurality of axially spaced teeth along the outer edge of the scraping members of the ski boot cleaner of FIG. 5. Such axially spaced teeth can be easily provided by a plurality of notches 12 extending downwardly along the outer portion of the scraping member.

In some instances, the ski boot cleaner of FIGS. 5 and 6 is preferred over the ski boot cleaner illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 because it has two scraping surfaces. Other types of cleaners can also be fabricated to carry even more scraping surfaces.

While the above two embodiments of the instant invention have been described in terms of a snap-on type of securing means wherein the ski boot scraper can be attached to the shaft of a conventional ski pole, it should also be understood that any other type of securing means can also be used so long as the elongated scraping member can be rigidly secured to the shaft of the ski pole with the axis of the scraper surface being substantially parallel to the axis of the ski pole. For example, the elongated scraping member can be attached to any suitable base material and the base can be thereafter attached to the ski pole shaft by means of adhesive. It should also be understood that even the snap-on" type of securing means described in the figures above can be additionally secured to the ski le shaft by means of various adhesive materials. This rs particularly advantageous if the internal walls of the slotted cylindrical housing do not form a tight friction contact with the ski pole shalt, thus allowing the scraping member to rotate on the shaft when the boots are being scraped.

The ski boot cleaners that are the subject of this invention can be fabricated from almost any material.

However, the material must be sufficiently hard and durable to provide a scraper surface that can scrape snow and other foreign material from boot soles with out permanent bending or breaking. For example, they can be fabricated by extruding th'ermo-plastic materials, such as hard rubber, ABS-type plastics and the like. In some instances it may be desirable to form the ski boot cleaners from thin gauge metals, such a aluminum, steel and the like. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the choice of materials of construction can be any resilient material that can be formed into a durable scraper surface.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the instant ski boot cleaners may be an integral part of the ski pole itself. In those instances, the elongated scraping member can be permanently attached to the ski pole shaft or the elongated scraping member can be actually formed on the ski pole shaft at the time of manufacture as illustrated in FIGS. I and 7. In those instances, the scraping member is merely a flange, or flanges, that extend radially outwardly from the center axis of the ski pole shaft. As previously described, the outer edges of the flanges can contain a plurality of teeth formed by downwardly extending notches along the outer edge of the scraping surface.

When the ski boot cleaner is an integral part of the ski pole shaft, the scraper member can be afixed to the shaft in any convenient manner. For example, the scraper member can be molded onto said shaft during the actual manufacture of the shaft, it can be welded or glued to the shaft or the entire shaft and ski boot cleaner can be stamped formed in one operation. It should also be noted that the scraper surface can be formed by a series of raised teeth or other projections extending outwardly from the shaft, to form the scraper surface.

The length of the scraping surface of the ski boot cleaners of this invention can be any convenient length. However, it is preferred that the length of the scraping surface be at least equal to the width of the sole of the ski boot to be cleaned.

The use of the ski boot cleaner of this invention is extremely simple and effective. For example, once the skier has arrived at the locale of his skis and is ready to place the ski boot soles on the skis themselves, the skier can merely insert the tip of the ski pole in the snow at an angle with the scraping member pointed upwardly. Thereafter, the skier steadies the handle end of the ski pole and draws the sole of the ski boot across the ski boot cleaner scraping member to remove snow and other foreign material that may Be present on the sole of the ski boot. Other ways of using the ski boot cleaner of the instant invention include the skier raising one boot off the ground and then grasping the ski pole at a convenient point and thereafter scraping snow and foreign matter from the boot sole, using the ski pole shaft as a handle. The ski boot cleaner can also be used in a hammer-like or axe-like manner wherein ice and other material can be dislodged from the boot soles by holding the ski pole shaft and "chopping" with the scraper member.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the simple construction of the ski boot cleaners of the instant invention are effective, yet do not add additional weight to the ski poles themselves.

While the foregoing specification has described only a few of the more preferred embodiments of the instant invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations may be made which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention described and claimed herein.

What is claimed is:

l. A ski boot cleaner comprising at least one elongated scraping member and a securing means to rigidly secure said scraping member to the shaft of a ski pole intermediate the handle and snow pad of said ski pole wherein said elongated scraping member is a flange extending radially outwardly from said securing means with said flange'affixed to said securing means along the base of said flange and terminating at an outer edge and being substantially parallel to the axis of said shaft and wherein said securing means is an elongated channel formed by a housing having substantially cylindrical interior walls to cooperate with said shaft and substantially cylindrical outer walls, said housing having a slot therein extending in the same direction as the axis of said cylindrical interior walls thereby forming a pair of inwardly facing oppositely disposed resilient lips defined by said slot so that movement away from said shaft of said ski pole is resisted by the cooperation of said lips and said shaft.

2. The ski boot cleaner of Claim 1 wherein said flange is tapered from the base of said flange toward the outer edge thereof.

3. The ski boot cleaner of Claim 1 wherein the outer edge of said scraping member has a plurality of axially spaced teeth formed by notches extending downwardly from said outer edge toward the base of said flange.

4. The ski boot cleaner of Claim 1 wherein scraping members are outwardly extending flanges affixed to the lips of said elongated channel along the base of said flanges with the length of said flanges extending in the same direction as said lips, said flanges extending away from said lips with said flanges terminating at outer edges, said outer edges extending in the same direction as said lips.

5. The ski boot cleaner of claim 4 wherein said flanges are tapered from the bases of said flanges toward the outer edges thereof and wherein said outer edges have a plurality of axially spaced teeth formed by notches extending downwardly from said outer edges toward the bases of said flanges.

6. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 1 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.

7. The combination as a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 2 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.

8. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 3 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.

9. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner'of claim 4 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.

10. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 5 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad. 

1. A ski boot cleaner comprising at least one elongated scraping member and a securing means to rigidly secure said scraping member to the shaft of a ski pole intermediate the handle and snow pad of said ski pole wherein said elongated scraping member is a flange extending radially outwardly from said securing means with said flange affixed to said securing means along the base of said flange and terminating at an outer edge and being substantially parallel to the axis of said shaft and wherein said securing means is an elongated channel formed by a housing having substantially cylindrical interior walls to cooperate with Said shaft and substantially cylindrical outer walls, said housing having a slot therein extending in the same direction as the axis of said cylindrical interior walls thereby forming a pair of inwardly facing oppositely disposed resilient lips defined by said slot so that movement away from said shaft of said ski pole is resisted by the cooperation of said lips and said shaft.
 2. The ski boot cleaner of Claim 1 wherein said flange is tapered from the base of said flange toward the outer edge thereof.
 3. The ski boot cleaner of Claim 1 wherein the outer edge of said scraping member has a plurality of axially spaced teeth formed by notches extending downwardly from said outer edge toward the base of said flange.
 4. The ski boot cleaner of Claim 1 wherein scraping members are outwardly extending flanges affixed to the lips of said elongated channel along the base of said flanges with the length of said flanges extending in the same direction as said lips, said flanges extending away from said lips with said flanges terminating at outer edges, said outer edges extending in the same direction as said lips.
 5. The ski boot cleaner of claim 4 wherein said flanges are tapered from the bases of said flanges toward the outer edges thereof and wherein said outer edges have a plurality of axially spaced teeth formed by notches extending downwardly from said outer edges toward the bases of said flanges.
 6. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 1 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.
 7. The combination as a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 2 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.
 8. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 3 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.
 9. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 4 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad.
 10. The combination of a ski pole comprising a shaft, a handle, a snow pad and the ski boot cleaner of claim 5 rigidly secured to said shaft intermediate said handle and said snow pad. 